Introduction to Marine Conservation Biology
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Network of Conservation Educators & Practitioners Introduction to Marine Conservation Biology Author(s): Tundi Agardy Source: Lessons in Conservation, Vol. 1, pp. 5-43 Published by: Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners, Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History Stable URL: ncep.amnh.org/linc/ This article is featured in Lessons in Conservation, the official journal of the Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners (NCEP). NCEP is a collaborative project of the American Museum of Natural History’s Center for Biodiversity and Conservation (CBC) and a number of institutions and individuals around the world. Lessons in Conservation is designed to introduce NCEP teaching and learning resources (or “modules”) to a broad audience. NCEP modules are designed for undergraduate and professional level education. These modules—and many more on a variety of conservation topics—are available for free download at our website, ncep.amnh.org. To learn more about NCEP, visit our website: ncep.amnh.org. All reproduction or distribution must provide full citation of the original work and provide a copyright notice as follows: “Copyright 2007, by the authors of the material and the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation of the American Museum of Natural History. All rights reserved.” Illustrations obtained from the American Museum of Natural History’s library: images.library.amnh.org/digital/ SYNTHESIS 5 Introduction to Marine Conservation Biology Tundi Agardy* *Sound Seas, Bethesda, MD, USA, email [email protected] D. Brumbaugh Introduction to Marine Conservation Biology Lessons in Conservation http://ncep.amnh.org/linc SYNTHESIS 6 Table of Contents Introduction...........................................................................................7 Marine and Coastal Systems...............................................................................7 Key Concepts in Marine Conservation Biology.................................................7 Comparisons Between Marine and Terrestrial Systems.......................................9 Marine Organisms and Environments......................................................................10 Marine Biodiversity.............................................................................................10 Habitat Diversity.............................................................................................10 Phyletic and Species Diversity........................................................................10 Genetic Diversity.............................................................................................10 Physical Oceanography...........................................................................................11 Physical Environment at Various Scales.............................................................11 Macro Scale Oceanography.............................................................................11 Meso Scale Oceanography..............................................................................11 Micro Scale Oceanography.............................................................................12 Links Between Physical Oceanography and Biota..............................................12 Major Marine Ecosystems......................................................................................13 Nearshore Ecosystems........................................................................................13 Kelp Forests and Hard Bottoms...................................................................13 Estuaries and Tidal Wetlands Such as Mangroves..........................................14 Soft Sediments and Sea Mounts..................................................................15 Coral Reefs....................................................................................................16 Seagrass Beds.................................................................................................16 Offshore Open Water..........................................................................................18 Marine Ecology......................................................................................................19 Marine Population Ecology................................................................................19 Life History....................................................................................................19 Reproduction..........................................................................................20 Larval Ecology and Recruitment..................................................................20 Community Ecology..........................................................................................21 Marine Resource Use and Conservation...............................................................23 Marine Resource Use.........................................................................................23 Threats To Marine Ecosystems and Biodiversity....................................................24 General.........................................................................................................24 Habitat Loss and Degradation..........................................................................25 Resource Extraction..........................................................................................26 Invasive Species (Including Pathogenic Diseases).................................................26 Climate Change..................................................................................................27 Most Threatened Areas......................................................................................27 Methods to Conserve Marine Biodiversity............................................................28 Spatial Management Through Zoning and Marine Protected Areas .................28 Fisheries Management........................................................................................29 Restoration...............................................................................................30 Integrated Coastal Zone Management................................................................31 Regional and International Agreements/Treaties...................................................31 Constraints to Effective Marine Conservation.......................................................32 Conclusions..................................................................................................34 Terms of Use..........................................................................................................34 Literature Cited......................................................................................................35 Glossary.................................................................................................................40 Introduction to Marine Conservation Biology Lessons in Conservation http://ncep.amnh.org/linc SYNTHESIS 7 Introduction to Marine Conservation Biology Tundi Agardy This document is specifically about those aspects of marine nificantly to global biological diversity. biology that are used in marine conservation. It is not intend- ed to be a complete primer on marine conservation, which Marine and coastal systems play significant roles in the eco- incorporates other sciences (most notably the social sciences) logical processes that support life on earth and contribute as well as traditional knowledge. To learn more about other to human well-being. These include climate regulation, the aspects of marine conservation, please refer to the following freshwater cycle, food provisioning, biodiversity mainte- marine modules: Marine Conservation Policy, Marine Protected nance, and energy and cultural services including recreation Areas and MPA Networks, and International Treaties for Marine and tourism. They are also an important source of economic Conservation and Management, all of which complement this growth. Capture fisheries alone were worth approximately module. 81 billion USD in 2000 (FAO, 2002), while aquaculture net- ted 57 billion USD in 2000 (FAO, 2002). In 1995, offshore Introduction gas and oil was worth 132 billion USD, while marine tour- ism brought in 161 billion USD, and trade and shipping were Marine and Coastal Systems worth 155 billion USD (McGinn, 1999). There are currently approximately 15 million fishers employed aboard fishing Almost three-quarters of the Earth’s surface (exactly 70.8% of vessels in the marine capture fisheries sector, the vast majority the total surface area or 362 million km2), is covered by oceans on small boats (90% of fishers work on vessels less than 24 m and major seas. Within these marine areas are ecosystems that in length) (MA, 2005c). are fundamental to life on earth and are among the world’s most productive, yet threatened, natural systems. Continental Key Concepts in Marine Conservation Biology shelves and associated Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) pro- vide many key ecosystem services: shelves account for at least Marine ecosystems are complex and exhibit diversity at vari- 25% of global primary productivity, 90-95% of the world’s ous hierarchical levels. Of 32 common phyla on the earth, only marine fish catch, 80% of global carbonate production, 50% one living phylum is strictly terrestrial; all others have marine of global denitrification, and 90% of global sedimentary min- representatives (Norse, 1993). Interestingly, all of these phyla eralization (UNEP,